If you turn to Romans chapter
8, we're going to continue our look at that golden chain of
salvation. Beginning in verse 29, For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them He also called. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would call us. Lord, call us by your spirit.
Call us by your gospel. Call us by your grace. Lord,
we ask that you would call for Christ sake each one of us by
name. Bless this time together. We
pray for our friends that aren't here that you would keep them
and we pray for your blessing and your presence. Be with all
your people wherever they meet together. We pray for those that
are sick. We pray for your blessing upon them. In Christ's name we pray, amen. The third thing mentioned in
what we would call the golden chain of salvation is calling. Calling. whom he did predestinate, them
he also called." Now, this is God calling me. This is God calling you. And this call, it's a personal
call. The Lord said, he calleth his
own sheep by name. Now that doesn't mean you're
going to hear your audible name called. Samuel did. You remember in 1 Samuel chapter
three, where he heard the Lord call Samuel. He heard his name
audibly and he went to Eli. He thought it was Eli calling
him and Eli said, you listen again. And when you hear your
name called, say, speak, Lord, thy servant heareth. And I hope every one of us are
saying that right now. Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth. Now look at the way this passage
begins in verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for good. I think it's kind of, how many
times have you heard people think, I think everything works together.
I think everything's going to work out. I think all things
are working together. Well, yeah. Why don't you finish
the rest of the verse? All things work together for
good to them that love God. to them who are thee called. Did you hear that? To them who
are thee called, according to his purpose. Look in Romans chapter
nine, verse 11. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God What an important statement, the purpose of God. This is God's
purpose. That the purpose of God, according
to election, might stand not of works, but of him that what? Calleth. And this is God's purpose. That salvation might not be by
human works, but of him that calleth. Now let's consider this
thing of the call. There is what has been named
a general call. And I have no doubt that that's
the call of creation. Creation says God is. Somebody
says, well, I don't believe that, I'm an atheist. Well, maybe now,
but you haven't always been. There was a time when you knew
creation said, creation screams, God is, somebody made this and
nobody made him. Everybody has that light of nature. And that's a call to seek the
Lord, isn't it? We ought to seek the Lord. And then there's the
call that goes out just in the preaching of the gospel. You
know something about this call? Everybody rejects it. Everybody
without exception rejects that call. And then we have the call
spoken of in our text, whom he did predestinate, then he also
called. Now this is a call that is irresistible. You can't resist it. If you can
resist this call, he's not calling you. I think of so many examples
in the scripture, Matthew. Follow me. Could Matthew, under
any circumstance, have said no? Zacchaeus, make haste, come down. Could Zacchaeus have said, don't
believe I'm going to. I'm gonna reject that call. What
about Lazarus? Lazarus, come forth. Could Lazarus have said, I don't
think so. No, he that was dead came forth. Now, this is the call the scripture
is speaking of, and this is his call. Now, turn to 1 Corinthians
1 for just a moment. You know, the Bible says a whole
lot more about this call than most preachers talk about. Look
how this is so a part of the scripture. 1 Corinthians 1, verse
23, but we preach Christ crucified. Now unto the Jews The religious
people, this is a stumbling block. They stumble at this. You're
gonna tell me that I'm saved wholly because of what somebody
else did on that cross. What about my works? What about
my responsibility? What about good works? I mean,
you're just saying all that stuff is immaterial. I stumble at that. I have a hard time with that.
And then to the Greeks, it's foolishness. How's this gonna
help my life? I mean, what is this gonna do
to add to my well-being in this life? It's just foolishness.
But look what it says in verse 24. But unto them which are called. And in the original, the definite
article is used. To them which are thee called. Now this is the difference between
life and death. being called by God. And what my response is, is Lord,
call me. Somebody else says, why didn't
he call everybody? Well, whatever he does is right. I'm not able
to explain all that, but here's my response. Lord, call me. Don't
leave me to myself. Call me by your grace. Hebrews
9.15 says, they which are called, might receive eternal inheritance. Now this call, whom he did predestinate,
then he also called is the call of grace. Remember what Paul
said, when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace. This is the call of grace. You're called by grace. Grace
gives you ears to hear. Grace gives you the heart to
receive. And by grace, you become a grace believer. He called me
by His grace. That's the first time you really
believe salvation by grace. when he calls you by his grace.
You might be indoctrinated in some things, but when he calls
you by his grace, you believe grace. You are a grace believer. Listen to this scripture, 1 Thessalonians
5.24, and this is a very precious verse of scripture. Get a hold
of this. Faithful is he that calleth you. who also will do
it. Everything he requires for you
to do, he enables you to do. Faithful is he that calleth you,
who also will do it. You're called upon to believe.
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Now, This call is the result
of salvation. Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter
one. I suppose I quote this verse
of scripture every week at some point. Verse nine, who hath saved us and called
us. Now this is so important, what
came first? The saving or the calling? Or what's it say? He saved us. Now what that reminds me of is
my salvation was accomplished outside of my personal subjective
experience. According to this passage of
scripture, it took place before the foundation of the world.
He saved us, He called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. The saving took place before
the calling, but everybody He saves, He calls. He calls by his invincible, irresistible
grace. Now, human religion has the call
of God going out to everybody, and your response makes the difference. The difference between the saved
and the lost, the saved respond well to the call, the lost do
not respond well to the call. The saved accept the call, they
make a decision to believe the call, the lost don't. And according
to that view, salvation's not of the Lord, salvation's of your
response. You're the one dependent as to whether or not you're saved.
But that's not what the call of grace is. He saved us and
he called us. Turn to 2 Peter 1. I want you
to see this. 2 Peter 1. Verse 10. 2 Peter 1. Verse 10. Wherefore the rather
brethren Give diligence. Give every effort. Make this
the purpose of your life. Give diligence to make your calling
and election sure. Now, the only way you're going
to make your election sure is if you make your calling sure. Give diligence. to make your
calling and your election sure. Now, if God elected you, he'll
call you. And the only way you'll know whether or not God has elected
you is if you understand this calling. And he says you can
make it sure. Give diligence to make your calling and election
sure. Now, how can I make my calling
sure? That's what I wanna end this
thing with. How can I, Todd Nybert, how can
I make my calling sure? The Bible says I can. And we
see from this the importance of this thing of calling. Whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. How can I? Make
my calling sure. Well, I've got three points,
all of which cannot be separated. Three things that will demonstrate
to us, to me, whether or not God has called me. And here's
the first thing. 2 Thessalonians 2.14 says, and
you can write this down, look it up later. He called you by
our gospel. And here's the first way that
I can see if my, I can make my calling sure. He called you by
our gospel. Now I'm sure this, if I haven't
heard the gospel, he hadn't called me. If I haven't believed the
gospel, he hadn't called me. So the critical thing for me
to understand here is what is the gospel? What is the gospel? Well, Paul
tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, three, it's how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures. Not Christ died for
our sins. You know, I could get up and
say Christ died for our sins. I never preach the gospel. Nobody
would ever hear the gospel. That's a generic statement. It's
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. The scriptures, now that's the
gospel. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. That's
the gospel. And believing the gospel, first
you gotta hear the gospel, and then you gotta believe the gospel.
And let me say this, believing is not believing that you're
elect. Believing is not believing you've been called. Believing
is believing that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And whatever he did must be successful. You are relying the very salvation
of your soul on who He is and what He did as being successful.
You don't really, assurance comes from being assured of who He
is. Somebody says, I have full assurance that I'm saved. Well,
good, that doesn't mean you are. A lot of folks think they're
saved and wake up in hell. That's a very sobering thought,
but they really thought they were saved. They really believed
sincerely that they were saved, but they never really heard the
gospel, never really believed the gospel. Believing the gospel
is believing who he is, believing he is salvation. Now, let me
repeat that. Believing is believing who he
is. Do you believe he's the son of
God? Do you believe he's the creator? Do you believe he's
the sovereign of the universe? Do you believe if he died for
you, you must be saved and you can't risk the hazard of the
possibility of anything but saved if he died for you? And you are
relying on who he is and what he did as everything in your
salvation. Now he called you by our gospel. It's not so much hearing your
name called, it's hearing his name. It's believing him. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that day. So this first thing
in knowing, making my calling sure, as he called me by the
gospel, have I heard, have I believed the gospel? Second thing, now
remember, we're wanting to make our calling an election, sure,
and this is so simple. May the Lord deliver me from
messing it up and making it more complicated than it is. Do you remember the Lord making
this statement? Matthew 9, verse 13, I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners. to repentance. And here's the
second question. Are you a sinner? Now somebody might answer, well,
everybody sins, of course I am. Okay, let me try to pose it a
different way. Are you evil? Are you personally evil? You see, this goes beyond what
you do. It encompasses what you are. Are you evil? Now, are you a
sinner? I came not to call the righteous. If you have any righteousness
of your own, Christ didn't come for you. Really? Really. If you have any righteousness,
if you have any personal righteousness, you can kiss Christ goodbye.
He hasn't done anything for you. But if you are a sinner, that
means that all you do is sin. If you did it, it's sin. You cannot not sin. Well, I'm gonna go 10 seconds
without sin. Can't be done. Can't be done because of who
I am, because of who you are. And this sin I'm speaking of,
It's my fault. I'm not a victim. I can't blame
God. I can't blame God's sovereignty.
I can't blame my mom and dad. I can't blame my experience,
my circumstances, my education. It's all my fault. I'm not a victim. It's all my
fault. And because of my own personal
sinfulness, I cannot not sin. All I do is sin and it's all
my fault. I can't blame anybody else. Therefore, I cannot sit
in judgment with regard to any person over anything they've
done because I do the same things. And for me to judge somebody
is remarkable hypocrisy. Romans 2.1 says, Therefore thou
art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest another,
for you that judge, doest. Doest, not you've done, not you
would do, but you do do, right now. You do do the same things. Now, that's what God says. Somebody
says, I do not. Well, God says you do. God says
you do. And I feel a little bit more
comfortable just believing what God says than what I think or
what you think. This is what God says. Now, if I am a sinner,
I have no claims on God. I can't say it's not fair for
God to do. God needs to respond to me. God needs to do. No, you've
got no claims on God if you're a sinner. You're like that leper,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Now, here's the question.
Here's the question. Are you a sinner? Do you fit that description?
Number one, have you heard the gospel? Have you believed the
gospel? Number two, are you a sinner? Now, it's through hearing the
gospel that you find out you are a sinner. You don't just
figure this out. Oh, I'm a really bad person.
I need the gospel. No, it doesn't work that way.
It's through hearing the gospel. It's through hearing who the
character of God is. It's through hearing how God
saves sinners that you find out you're a sinner. And then you
find out you're a sinner. Now, have you heard the gospel? Are you a sinner? Now, turn to 1 Corinthians 1. Here is the third point, if you wanna call it a
point, as to how you can examine your calling and election and
make it sure. First, have you heard the gospel? Have you heard
it as gospel? Have you heard and believe the
gospel? Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God? Do you believe he's all in salvation?
Second, are you a sinner? He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now look in 1 Corinthians chapter
one, verse two, Paul's writing unto the church of God, which
is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
to be saints with all that in every place call upon the name
of Jesus Christ our Lord. Am I called? Do you call? What do the called do? They call. Now, if I'm called, do you know
what I'm doing right now? I'm calling on the name of the Lord,
save me. Now, his name, is His attributes. It's not just knowing
His audible name. It's knowing the person behind
the name. He's just. He's holy. He's all-powerful. He's all-wise. He's everywhere at once. He's
independent. He's immutable. Go on and on
with His glorious attributes. The name of the Lord is the person
behind the name. There's a specific person behind
the name. Your name. My name. His name. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, whosoever, that ought to
ring as good news to you. You're whosoever. You can fit
yourself in that demographic, can't you? You are whosoever. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord, that's who He is. Whosoever shall call,
Lord, save me. Save me by your sovereignty,
by an act of your sovereign will. Save me by your justice. Save
me by your love. Save me by your grace. Save me
by your faithfulness. You're calling upon his name.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall, that's
sure, shall be saved. Whoever, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, how do I make my calling and
election sure? First, let's begin with the gospel.
He called you by our gospel. The gospel Paul preached, the
gospel presented in the scripture, the gospel that actually saved
sinners. My gospel. The gospel which is gospel to
me, it's good news to me. Number one, have you heard the
gospel? Number two, are you a sinner? Number three, do you call? Do you call on the name of the
Lord? Well, if you do, you've made
your calling sure. And you know what comes after
that? Your election. Your election. If you make your
calling sure, you make your election sure. And listen to this scripture.
Romans chapter 11 verse 29 says, the gifts and calling of God
is without repentance. God never calls and then takes
it back. It is his eternal call. Faithful, faithful is he that
calleth you. who also will do it. I remember one time hearing Walter
Gruber say, what's your favorite scripture? He said, faithful
is he that calleth you, who also will do it. That's a passage
of scripture we ought to, Lord, You said it, you do it. Faithful
is he that calleth you, who also will do it. God never goes back
on his call. One other script, I want to bring
this out. I don't have, 1 Corinthians 1. Let me show you something all
the called have in common. And this really encompasses all
three of those points. Verse 24, but unto them which are thee
called, both Jews and Greeks, religious and unreligious, whoever
God has called, Christ, the power of God, Christ, the wisdom of
God. Now let me tell you what all
of the called believe. They believe that Christ is the
very power of God unto their salvation. It's Christ that put
away my sin. It's Christ that gave me righteousness. Christ is the power of God unto
salvation, and Christ is the wisdom of God unto salvation. Oh, the wisdom of God that made
a way for him to be just and justify somebody like me. Christ,
the power of God. Christ, the wisdom of God. Whom
he did predestinate, then He also called. Okay.